Which Task Characteristics Reduce Role Ambiguity?

Abstract

One major issue in the present workplace is how employees use ICT to fit one’s needs. Upon this notion, we focus on how the interconnectedness among employees and the degree of freedom in completing their tasks affect role ambiguity, and how ICT serves as a positive medium that alleviates equivocal workplace issues. Using the self-determination theory and the media richness theory as our theoretical frameworks, we posit that certain task characteristics – common features displayed in organizations these days – reduce role ambiguity, which in turn positively affects work engagement. In this line of process, the degree of ICT presenteeism, which implies the degree in which communication technology utilized in the workplace allows its employees to be reachable to one another, amplifies the negative relationship between task characteristics and role ambiguity. By distributing survey questionnaires to employees working in Korean organizations, we analyzed 202 employees. Analyses confirmed our research hypotheses, implying the important role of ICT presenteeism in reducing ambiguous roles.